Action film shot in San Benito County premieres this week

Shot primarily in Hollister, Ranger will be getting its world premiere Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Granada Theatre. Writer and director Nico Quijano used several locations in the county, including Hollister Municipal Airport, McKinnon Lumber and TAG Paintball as backdrops for the feature film. 

“I took on this project to help me and my friends make our own movies and get noticed,” Quijano said. “And I wanted to give people in Hollister a chance to act in movies—because Hollywood was not exactly knocking on our door.”  

Hollister resident Quijano, an Army veteran, former police officer and overseas security contractor, started his film career in the 1990s with 28 credits in TV, film and music videos, even doing stunt coordination for video games.

“Some friends started shooting a movie,” he said, “and asked me to do the fight choreography.  I got bitten by the bug. I started acting and got the thug roles, the mafia guys. I wanted to get bigger roles, and the only way to do that was to make my own movie.”

Ranger began with a five-day shoot in Germany and returned home to reduce the strain on the film’s budget.

“I had a different team over there,” Quijano said. “Those guys thought it was going to be a big Hollywood production. They wanted $150k, $250k, and I said, “I don’t have that much money. This is strictly low-budget.’”

Quijano describes the movie as a fusion of Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth as a black market mercenary, and Tom McLaughlin’s 1971 cult classic Billy Jack, about an ex-Green Beret fighting for justice on a reservation.

“An American hero returns from war,” he said, “and he finds that everything has changed. His father was killed, there’s human trafficking, drugs and cartels, and he just wants to do the right thing.”

Quijano said the most challenging part of making the film was taking on the multiple roles of writer, producer, director, lead actor and stunt director.

“It was hard wearing all the hats,” he said. “The actors come up to you and say, ‘Is this what you want?’ Or, ‘Can you listen to me to hear how I sound?’ And I’m thinking, ‘Hey, I need to get ready because my scene is coming up!’”

Quijano also learned how to edit the film after discovering that professionals he consulted wanted to charge up to $80,000 for the job—and wanted to change it into a comedy.

“I wanted to stick with my vision,” he said. “I decided I would edit the movie. I don’t care if I mess it up. I’m not perfect, but I’ll hold myself accountable for any mistakes.”

Rob Steacy plays one of the film’s bad guys, Sheriff Taylor—a nod to Quijano’s friend, San Benito County Sheriff Eric Taylor. Steacy met Quijano on a film set in San Francisco and was impressed by his drive to make Ranger.

“Getting to know him,” Steacy said, “I could tell he was a vibrant individual and, as far as creativity, he was very into every aspect of the trade. And a lot is going on in this film.”

Actor and musician J.C. Smith, who co-produced the film, previously worked with Quijano on other shoots. He plays Jackson, who he describes as “connecting every axis of evil,” and said the shoot went remarkably well.

“We cast some of our friends who had never acted before,” he said, “and we had a really good time. Nico’s big concern was that we had worked with egos and conflicts before, but this was the first film where we all got along.”

In addition to the Granada Theatre premiere, Quijano has entered Ranger in the Bravemaker and Tribeca film festivals and expects it to be streaming next year on Amazon Prime. 

“The hope is that people will see it and believe in you and your vision,” he said. “So we will get that first one up and then try to get more financing in the future. This is not a one-shot deal.”

Ranger premieres Saturday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. at the Granada Theatre, 336 5th Street in Hollister.

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